Railroad crossing gate



1938. H. R. GILMORE 2,126,548

RAILROAD CROSSING GATE Filed Aug. 20, 1956 J4 if 14 Patented Aug. 9, 1938 7" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILROAD CROSSING GATE Harry R. Gilmore, Steubenville, Ohio Application August 20, 1936, Serial No. 97,068

3 Claims. (Cl. 391) This invention relates to improvements in railthe passage of trafiic under the cross bar or head road crossing gates, and pertains more particu- 6, as well as under the horizontally disposed and larly and specifically to such an installation in rotatably mounted shaft 1 which extends across connection with city street railroad crossings, but the street and also the sidewalk.

5 it is to be understood the present invention can The shaft I is rotated by means of electric mo- 5* be used equally as well in connection with rural tors 8 and 9 which have driving engagement with railroad crossings. the gears H3 and H secured to the shaft. The

The primary object of the invention is the promanner and time of the operation of the motors vision of a new and improved railroad crossing 8 and S will hereinafter more fully appear.

10 I gate A plurality of gates A, B, C, D and E are sus- 10* A further object of the invention is the provipended from the shaft '1 and these may be made sion of a new and improved railroad crossing gate of vertical and horizontal cross chains or could so designed as to protect pedestrians as well as be in the form of any suitable metallic mesh. The vehicular t ffi gates A and E are positioned above the sidewalks Another d th] furth bj t, of th inveni and 5, and at their bottoms terminate in cush- 15' tion is the provision of a new and improved railion bars These bars Carry a Series of ed road crossing gate which is automatic in operalights 53. When the shaft 1 is rotated to lift the tion; which gives warning of the approach of a gates the gates A and E roll up up the shaft train as well as warning of the closed position of b een the guides I4 and I5.

the gates; and provides automatic means for taks C early indicated in the drawing, three gates 20:

ing pictures of any vehicle which might contact are used above the roadway and t te B is the gates when the same are in a closed position. above t left side of the roadway; e gate D Other further objects, novel features of conabove the right side of the y, and gate C struction and improved results of the present inabove the Center of the d yvention will appear in more detail from the folt t e bo o these gates are provided with 25 lowing i ti h read in t light of t cushion bars l5 which are nine inches above and accompanying drawing. parallel with the highway. In spaced relation- In the drawing i h ll t t preferred ship along these bars are positioned steel hooks F, embodiment of the present invention: the upturned ends it of which are disposed to Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the gates at face treffio approaching t ates. These hooks one Side f the railroad or car traeke preferably terminate nine inches above the road- Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the bed of the yen e Wheels of p es 3 line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indiare provided for gu d these three ates when cated by arrows. they are rolled up upon the shaft 1. For the pur- Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic or schematic showing D Of Warning at night the Closed p t on Of of the electric installation and the manner of prothe gates their Cushion bars are p ded With a viding gates at a plurality of street crossings. Series Of red lights Fig. 4 is a detailed view, partly in section, illus- Positioned adjace t a d paralleling the vertitrating the engagement between a closed gate and Cal standards I and 2 are tubular way 0 40 the bumper of a motor vehicle, in which the weights 2! are adapted to move. 40

Referring now to the drawing in which like These weights are each provided with a cable 22 parts are designated by similar reference letters trained Over and having an attachment to a and numerals throughout the description and P y 23 which has v g connection with the with the understanding that the gates at one side shaft It s to be understood that When the of the tracks only are illustrated and described, gates are down se Weights act as a e e si 45 because the gates at the other side of th t k mechanism to rotate the shaft 1 and lift the gates are identical in construction and operation, it will y Winding them p the shaft- This, of Course, be seen that a pair f vertical extending t takes place after the delivery of current to the ards I and 2 are provided at each side of the street motors 8 and 9 has been discontinued. as will be 3 adjacent the curbing of the sidewalks 4 and 5 hereinafter describedp vement of the and that a cross arm or head 6 extends across the Weights is limited y the stops 2 la. upper ends of said standards. The gates A and E above the sidewalks will pre- These standards are placed a considerable disvent pedestrians from entering upon the railroad tance in front of the tracks and the standards are tracks, While the gates B, C, and D will prevent of sufficient height to give adequate clearance for vehicles from entering upon the tracks. Should 55 a vehicle, such as an automobile, attempt to pass the gates when they are down the front bumper of the car would strike against the gates and cause them to swing up as illustrated in Fig. 4, where it will be seen that the hooks F engage the under side of the vehicle bumper G. The momentum of the vehicle will cause the gates to swing inwardly with the shaft 1 as the pivot point of their are with the result that the front end of the car is lifted forwardly and upwardly and will cause the rear end of the car to drag to a quick stop and thus protect the car passengers from injury.

In Fig. 3 I have shown schematically the pre ferred manner of installing my equipment. Here three streets 1st, 2nd and 3rd are shown. The railroad tracks are shown at H and it is to be understood that at the meeting of each street and tracks there will be a gate such as has been described. The gates work in a unit of three by which I mean the first portion of the cycle of operation of a gate begins two blocks or two streets ahead of the gate. Paralleling each set of railroad rails are three electric wires 25, 26 and 21. The wires at one side are for controlling the gates at one side of the tracks and the wires at the other side are for the purpose of controlling the gates at opposite side of the track. A description of the wires at one side of the track will serve to describe both sets of wires. The

wire 2! is a ground wire, while the remaining wires constitute the live electric current.

The electric current is such that in the event of the approach of a train in either direction that the train upon reaching the street two blocks away will cause the bells 28 mounted upon the gate cross head, to ring and will cause the large red light 30 to be illuminated.

By means of a recording, or by means of the actual voice of the engineer or fireman, announcement through. the loud speaker 3| mounted on the gate cross-head, will be made as to the direction in which the train is moving.

After the train has proceeded one block electrical contact is automatically made closing the circuit to the motors 8 and 9 to cause the chain barriers to unroll and drop. After the train has passed a gate the electrical circuit to the motors will be broken and the chain barriers automatically opened by being rolled up through the gravity pull of the weights 2|.

As a. train enters upon the system a buzzer or bell will ring in the engine cab to advise the engineer to start the recording or to himself make the announcement going out over the loud speaker 3|.

For the purpose of ascertaining the identity of any vehicle which engages any of the gates, I provide means of taking a moving picture of said vehicle which picture will include the automobile tag and will thus enable the identification of the ownership of the vehicle.

Positioned in each roadway, slightly in advance oi the gates, there is a depressible plate 35, which has electrical connection through the wire 36 with the aforementioned circuit wire 25 and electrical connection through a wire 31 with the electric motor 38, which motor in turn is connected to the ground wire 21 through the wire 39. The depressible plate constitutes a normally open switch.

A moving picture camera is designated at 40 and driving connection is provided between the motor 38 and the speed crank of the camera. When a train is two streets beyond a crossing gate, an

electric current is delivered to the depressible switch plate 35, with the result that if a vehicle is driven into contact with the gates it will pass over and cause the operation of the depressible plate switch 35 and cause the electric motor to operate the speed crank of the camera and the taking of a picture of the vehicle.

It is to be understood that there will be a camera mounted on the cross head of the gate at each side of the railroad crossing.

The current flowing in the wires 25 and 21 will be current delivered by the train or cars travelling on the railroad tracks. Suitable electric current generating means will be provided on the cars for supplying said current.

In the event a vehicle driver or pedestrian should not heed the warning given by the bells, the red lights and the loudspeaker and should enter upon the track before the gates actually close, the pedestrian and the vehicle can easily escape as the gates at either side of the track will push or swing outwardly to permit the pedestrian or vehicle to move outwardly on to the sidewalk or highway, as the case may be.

From the foregoing it will be understood that an automatically operated safety gate for railroad crossings or the like is provide-d by the present invention. The gates at each street crossing will be automatically operated in rotation. For the purpose of delivering the current to the wires suitable wire contact means will be carried by the cars for movable engagement along the wires of the sides of the railroad track.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a highway and railroad crossing, of a rotatable support located above the said highway, 2. flexible gate hung and free to swing on said support, means to rotate said support to roll and unroll the said gate, and means at the lower portion of said gate automatically interlocking with the front end of a moving vehicle and by said movement elevate the front end of the said vehicle from the ground, for the purpose described.

2. In association with a highway and a railroad crossing, a rotatable support above the high- Way, a flexible gate having its upper end connected with the said support, means to rotate said support and roll and unroll said gate thereon to cause it to assume on open or closed position, power means adapted to rotate said support to cause the gate to assume a closed position, a cable connected with a pulley attached to the said support and carrying a weight which is lifted when the gate is lowered, the lower portion of the gate carrying means adapted to interlock with a moving vehicle, and said gate caused to swing when struck by the moving vehicle and to thereby lift the front end and depress the rear end of the vehicle, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination with a highway and a crossing thereof, of a support above said highway, a gate hung from and free to swing on said support, means to move said gate to an open or closed position in respect to the highway, means carried by said gate adjacent the lower end thereof adapted to interlock with the front end of a vehicle, said gate when struck by a moving vehicle caused to swing, and the continued swinging of said gate by said vehicle bringing the interlocking means into interlocking engagement with the vehicle, whereby the front end of the vehicle is lifted and the rear end thereof depressed, for the purpose set forth.

HARRY R. GILMORE. 

